The goal of the Royal University Hospital Radiothon is to transform surgical care at the hospital. The RUH Foundation is raising $20-million to transform and equip new state-of-the-art operating rooms, which will also reduce wait times and help save lives.

Statistics from RUH include 18,000 surgeries performed in 2019, and 60 per cent of surgical patients are from outside Saskatoon. COVID-19 has delayed non-urgent surgeries and it’s expected to take years to catch up. RUH Foundation CEO, Arla Gustafson, says the current operating rooms desperately need to be replaced. They were state-of-the-art when they opened in 1978. There have been upgrades along the way, but the space is no longer as functional as it could be.

The Radiothon continues on Friday until 5 p.m.